Laws will be altered further to incorporate a provision for punishing Armed Forces members accused of committing electoral offences, said an election commissioner Monday.

"The agencies such as Armed Forces, Bangladesh Rifles and police deployed during the polls are being included in the electoral offence prosecution net by amending regulations," EC M Sakhawat Hossain told reporters in his office.

AP, NEW YORK -- Oil futures traded in a narrow range Monday, pressured as the dollar gained strength against the euro but supported by prospects that JPMorgan Chase & Co. will boost its offer for Bear Stearns Cos.

Many investors view commodities such as oil as a hedge against inflation and a falling dollar. Also, a weaker dollar makes oil less expensive to overseas investors. The effect tends to reverse when the greenback strengthens, as it did Monday.

AFP, ANCIENT OLYMPIA - The Beijing Olympics flame was lit in a tightly-guarded ceremony here on Monday at the birthplace of the ancient Olympics.

The ceremony launches the Olympic torch relay that marks the countdown for each Games, and the Beijing Games relay is the longest and most ambitious ever planned, lasting 130 days and covering 137,000 kilometres (85,000 miles) worldwide.

AFP, BAGHDAD - The death toll of US soldiers in the five-year Iraq conflict has hit 4,000 in what the US military said Monday was a "tragic" loss of lives after four troops were killed in a Baghdad bombing.

The four soldiers died when their vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb while on patrol late Sunday in southern Baghdad, bringing the overall toll to 4,000, according to an AFP tally based on independent website www.icasualties.org.

Andrew Strauss guaranteed himself a place in England's Test side for the foreseeable future with a career-best 173 on the third day in Napier as McLean Park finally produced the volume of run-scoring that had been expected. Ian Bell contributed an expressive hundred of his own as England piled up a huge 501-run lead leaving New Zealand's brittle batting line-up with a two-day battle to save the match and share the series.

Asian shares rose in holiday-thinned trade on Monday, led by a 4 percent gain for Taiwan after an opposition win in the presidential election boosted expectations for better trade ties and less political tension with China, reports Reuters.

Oil fell back towards the $100 mark a barrel as top producer Saudi Arabia reassured consumers of its plans to boost supply and gold fell back, giving respite to the battered U.S. dollar and easing concerns about inflation.

AFP, DHARAMSHALA- Around 130 people have been confirmed killed in a Chinese crackdown on protests and unrest in Tibet, the prime minister of the Tibetan government-in-exile told AFP on Monday.

"This figure is from our sources in Tibet. The verifiable number is about 130 in entire Tibet," Samdhong Rinpoche said in Dharamshala in northern India, the base of exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama.

Bangladesh Railway have agreed to suspend rail operations between Tejgaon and Kamalapur stations during the capital's peak travel hours in a bid to reduce the city's traffic jams.

The move follows a recent request from the Dhaka Metropolitan Police to the railway authorities for assistance in mitigating the huge tailbacks that have become such a feature of life in the capital city.

A special court trying high-society corruption suspects Sunday ordered the jail authorities to produce detained former PM Sheikh Hasina before it on March 30 without fail in connection with the barge-mounted power-plant-deal case, as she was not produced Sunday, reports UNB.

Judge M Firoz Alam of the special court set up at the high- security parliament bhaban passed the orders, after perusing the custody report along with a medical report on the present status of Hasina from the Square Hospital, as asked for.

The Anti-Corruption Commission is now scrutinising the investigation reports of the two separate Niko graft cases, filed against two former Prime Ministers and nine others, before taking a decision on submission of charge sheets, reports UNB.

The investigation report of the case against Khaleda and four others was submitted on March 13, reportedly recommending submission of charge sheet against a total of 15 persons, including those charged initially.

Bangladesh and Indian authorities Sunday agreed that the much-awaited Dhaka-Kolkata passenger train service would whistle-start on Pahela Baishakh, a day when people at both ends will go on euphoric celebrations of the Bengali New Year, reports UNB.

The decision came from a bilateral meeting between Communications Advisor Maj Gen (retd) Ghulam Quader and Indian High Commissioner Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty at the Communications Ministry.